The Feline Returns
by Sindy Sugar
Summary: Hiro Yoshioka never expected saving a cat would lead to this much trouble. (A retelling of The Cat Returns... but genderbended.)
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hehehe... yeah sorry I lied about not going to start another fanfiction in a while. But I just couldn't resist not writing this. Just felt really strange not writing 2 chapters at the same time anymore after finishing The Baroness Returns, so... here I am again. . *no self control*

So this is going to be a parody of the anime The Cat Returns with all the characters being "genderbend" aka being turned into their opposite gender. xD

The story will somewhat be the same as the anime. However I'll twist the story up a bit with the TCR manga too and I'll add a bit of my own twists too, maybe change things up a bit differently. We'll see how it goes...

I do not own the original characters from The Cat Returns nor it's plot. This is purely made for fun.

Chapter 1

 _A small green colored house stands between two other larger homes. A lamp post stands in front, along with a chair in front of one of one its windows. In the window, a figure peers out._

 _A red, elegant frilly dress clothes the figure. A purple hat sits between her two large pointed ears. The figure stands completely still, almost like a statue as it faces the window._

 _Suddenly a gentle mellifluous voice is heard._

 _"If you should find yourself troubled, by something mysterious, or a problem that is just too hard to solve, there's a place you can go for help. A place where. . . "_

* * *

Hiro groaned at hearing his blue cow alarm clock suddenly going off. Peeking from under his quilt to glare at the alarm, he resisted the urge to smack the darn thing off his desk. But reluctantly gritted his teeth, and lazily slapped his hand on the big alarm button to silence it.

Happy that the sudden beeping was no longer disrupting the quiet atmosphere in his room, Hiro yawned and turned away from his alarm to the other side of the bed happily.

But after a moment or so of silence, Hiro instantly jolted up in bed and immediately snatched his alarm clock to look at the time in horror.

". . . Wait. . . WHAT?!" Hiro exclaimed as he jumped out of bed, barely missing all his stuff scattered on his room floor, as he zipped to his dresser to quickly get his school uniform on.

"Please tell me you're up by now?" called a voice from downstairs.

"Yeah, yeah! I'm up!" Hiro called down to his father as he quickly put his uniform on and ran out the door while fixing his wild hair with his hand. But he quickly looked back at his mirror, to frown at his own reflection.

"Jeez. . . I need a haircut." he murmured as he quickly left his room and down the stairs to the dining room. His father had already set at the table and was now setting his plate that held an open-faced sandwich of veggies and a sunnyside up egg.

Nakazo Yoshioka smirked at his son.

"Why do I bother getting you all these alarm clocks? Just last Friday you slammed your other alarm clock against the wall, and _still_ didn't get up in time." Nakazo rolled his eyes.

"Come on, stop teasing me, you know I'm not a morning person," Hiro said stuffing some papers in his school bag and darted his eyes at the kitchen clock.

"Eush! Gotta go!"

An evil smirk played on Nakazo's face.

"Too bad. No food for you then, Hiro." Nakazo said making a big show of taking a large bite out of his sandwich, while his son stared longingly at the food being chomped by his father. Hiro shook his head sternly and heading towards the front door, before turning to glare at his dad.

"Thanks so much, dad," Hiro said sarcastically as he closed the door behind him.

Nakazo chuckled and called out.

"Bye."

Hiro ran out of his yard, passing a few of the neighborhood cats on the way and sprinted down the street for a few minutes and into the busy downtown area.

Still not slowing his pace, he took a short cut by leaping over a couple of bushes in order to get to the street.

Hiro silently hoped he wouldn't sweat in his uniform and look like a bigger slob by the time he made it to class.

Lost in his thoughts, Hiro tripped on the street pavement, but quickly caught himself, unfortunately making his shoe fly off his foot.

"Oh, great! Not now!" he groaned, rushing to pick it up and put it back on.

"Excuse us!" came a bunch of voices as a long line of female joggers blocked Hiro's way, causing Hiro to grit his teeth anxiously.

'I'm not going to make it in time. . .' he thought dread hanging over him as he watch the women continue to jog by him.

* * *

Hiro carefully slid open the classroom's door and tried to crawl to his seat out of the sight of his teacher, who was writing on the board recited to the class;

" _Not losing to the rain. Not losing to the wind. Not losing to the snow nor to summer's heat. With a strong body, not fettered by desire, by no means offending anyone. . ._ " the teacher stopped reciting and ceased writing on the board and sighed.

"Hiro. . . it's bad enough you're late to my class, but being dramatic and thinking you can somehow ninja yourself in here unnoticed is another thing. . . please just sit down. . ." she sighed, not bothering to turn away from the board.

"Y-Yes Ma'am! Sorry!" Hiro said standing up straight abruptly.

The class then erupted with laughter, as Hiro shamefaced to his seat meeting the eyes of his best friend, Hidemi, sitting in front of him.

"Ouch. . ." Hidemi said, giving Hiro a pity smile, while Hiro took his seat blocking the laughter out as much as he could.

Hesitantly, Hiro peered a few rows away, at a long brown haired girl, Machi, giggling softly at him.

In any other situation, Hiro would have admired those cute giggles and bright smile that Machi always flashed to everyone. But the fact that it was at his expense, made Hiro's stomach turn.

Hiro groaned and let his head dunk into his desk, while the teacher quieted everyone's laughter and continued the lesson.

* * *

"You see, that's another perk of being a morning person. You avoid situations like that entirely." Hidemi bragged, swinging his lacrosse stick around like a lightsaber as he and Hiro walked down the street.

Hiro rolled his eyes.

"Not everyone can be a morning person like you, Hidemi. Stop reminding me of that painful fact."

Hidemi stopped waving his lacrosse stick around to smack Hiro's back playfully.

"I'm sorry bud, just messing with you."

Hiro pouted a bit.

"But seriously, what a day. I mean, this isn't the first time I've been late, but today just was the worst! I wish Sensei didn't have to scold me like that. The whole class ended up laughing at me because of it. . . even Machi. . ." Hiro said solemnly.

"Yeah, I think she was even still giggling about it at lunch," Hidemi smirked, causing Hiro to twitch in irritation at Hidemi.

"Why today of all days?!" Hiro stopped walking, making Hidemi look back at him. "I've been late so many times before, but why did the humiliation finally occur today?"

Hidemi tsked.

"Hmm, could be a sign that things aren't going to be going so well for you for now on. Something even crazier and humiliating may even happen to you." Hidemi said brushing his red hair out of his face and began to swirl his lacrosse stick as he continued down the street.

"Gee, thanks for the encouragement." Hiro murmured as he followed behind him.

* * *

Meanwhile on the same street. A gray, almost purplish cat wearing a golden band around her neck, carried a small box in its mouth, while it climbed out of a window of a building and leaped to the ground, smoothly.

Her mismatched eyes scanned the area, then took a turn, passing an old man sitting on a bench who stared at the cat curiously.

". . . Don't see that every day. . ." the old man said eyeing the cat as it walked away.

* * *

"Why do you even like Machi so much?" Hidemi pressed.

Hiro blushed slightly while rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

". . . I just think she's so darn cute. . ."

"Oh? Why not get the nerve to actually talk to the girl and tell her how you feel?" Hidemi asked.

"I could never. . . I always just get so tongue-tied around her. I'd just look like an idiot. Besides, a girl like that has got to have a boyfriend already. She'd turn me down in a second if I ever asked her out." Hiro said an imaginary dark cloud looming over him.

"She does have a boyfriend. She's dating that senior that all the girls are going gaga for." Hidemi said with envy, a pout on his face.

Hiro abruptly snatched Hidemi's lacrosse stick from him and swung it at him, causing the teenage boy to dodge it with a laugh.

"Then why are you trying to encourage me to confess to her?!"

"Because I wanted to see the look on my buddy's face once she rejected him flat!" Hidemi smiled cheekily as he continued to dodge Hiro's playful attacks.

"Gosh! You're such a jerk." Hiro said giving one last swing at the redhead before stopping, causing Hidemi to smirk in triumph.

"Honestly, Machi isn't all that hot anyway, however, my Tsumugi is quite the cutie," Hidemi said placing a hand over his heart as he looked up at the sky dreamy like, as though he was some prince from a fairy tale.

Hiro rolled his eyes playfully.

"Tsumugi? Like she would ever consider a silly guy like you-" Hiro stopped in mid sentence as he saw the gray cat holding a box in its mouth walk pass him and Hidemi, casually.

"Eh? Was that cat just holding a box in its mouth?" Hidemi asked his attention on the cat as well.

"Yeah. . . weird." Hiro said as he and Hidemi followed the cat with their eyes.

The cat continued down the path, before stopping and turning towards the road.

". . . And now it's going into the street like a moron. Hey! Ditzy cat, you'll be roadkill!" Hidemi called out to the cat, who either didn't hear or was ignoring Hidemi's outburst, because it then stepped into the street, while further down the street a big truck was approaching.

"Oh well, instinct will kick in and it'll run like it should if the cars get too close." Hidemi shrugged and walked onward.

"It's not looking good for it, though. . ." Hiro said, causing Hidemi to stop walking and glance back at the cat again.

In the middle of the road, the unusual cat suddenly dropped the small box from its mouth. She quickly moved to grab it again, but lost her grip on it yet again, making it fall from her mouth. The cat stopped fully on the road to concentrate on how to carry the box with her, while the approaching pickup truck rushed towards her.

"Is that cat crazy?!" Hidemi cried watching the scene with his mouth hanging open, not noticing until too late by the fact that Hiro was no long by his side and was now sprinting towards the cat with his lacrosse stick.

"Ah-! Hiro!" Hidemi cried out towards his friend.

The truck driver and the passenger to her side, not looking at the road up until this point, cried out, at seeing Hiro run in front of them when they were a short distance away. The truck driver immediately slammed on her brakes, in a desperate attempt to stop the truck, while the tires screeched in protest.

Hiro, ignoring the fast approaching truck, maneuvered the lacrosse stick, in order to cup and scoop up the feline's figure with it, while he ran forward. Unfortunately, Hiro did this all too fast, causing him to lift the lacrosse stick, higher than he needed to. The purplish cat, holding its package with her front paws, eyes almost popped out of her skull in horror, when she realized Hiro's actions.

The feline gave a loud yelp when Hiro lifted his lacrosse stick too high and too fast causing the lacrosse stick to snap from not being able to support the feline's weight, hurling the strange feline into the air and towards the other side of the road.

"MEOOOOOOWWWW!" she screeched, as she was catapulted towards the other side of the road.

Hiro, realizing his mistake, watched the purplish figure flying in the air, hoping for the cat not to crash into a nearby store window or anything else. Although in a daze, Hiro continued to run down the road, barely missing the truck in the process.

"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING YOU SON OF A-!" Hidemi yelled across the street to the bolting truck, but stopped his words with a frown, and attempted a karate kick in the direction the truck was darting off in.

Hiro collapsed on the sidewalk, letting go of the lacrosse stick, and began gasping for air.

"Woah. . . What. . . a . . . ride. . . !" Hiro said between gasps, then looked up suddenly, remembering the cat.

"Hey, Cat! Where are you?! Are you okay-?!" Hiro gasped, his eyes widening when he turned to look at his side.

To his amazement, the purplish cat stood on her two hind legs, not her fours, and used her front paws to brush her fur to rid it of dirt.

Hiro continued to gaze at the cat with his slightly widened eyes, not daring to move, or even breathe, while the cat licked her paw (still on two legs), then turned suddenly to him with a smile.

She giggled softly.

"For a moment there, I nearly didn't know what I was going to die from. The truck? Or a strange human boy flinging me into the air like that? . . . Although then again, a fall like that wouldn't have killed me since I'm skilled at landing on my legs." she said giggling some more.

Hiro continued to watch the cat, his mouth opening and closing like a fish, trying to say something, but couldn't bring any words out.

'This cat. . . it's speaking. . . **actually speaking**! **Not meowing**!' Hiro yelled within his head, as best as he could, with many thoughts flooding his mind at once.

The cat suddenly flinched.

"Oh I nearly forgot my manners." she said then bowed towards Hiro.

"Thank you for saving my life. You have done a selfless and brave act for my sake and I'm extremely grateful and hope you're not hurt at all?"

"Ah-! Um-! Eh?" Hiro tried to speak but still, couldn't muster anything else out.

The grayish cat smiled again at Hiro politely.

"Thank you again, but I'm going to have to leave now, I'm in a bit of a rush. I'm sorry for being rude, but don't worry. I'll return to you to express my gratitude, later. I hope you'll excuse me." she bowed.

Finally finding his words, Hiro bowed his head too, but hastily.

"O-Oh! D-Don't mention it!"

The female cat smiled one last time at Hiro, before picking up her package that was at her feet, with her mouth and trotted out of the area.

"Hiro!" called Hidemi running towards his friend, looking cautiously around for any approaching vehicles.

Hiro continued to watch the grayish cat, with his mouth agape, until it was at the corner of the street. She looked back at the human boy one more time, and bowed her head, before disappearing around the corner.

A sigh came from above Hiro.

"Jeez dude, you broke my lacrosse stick. But I guess it was for a worthy cause." Hidemi said picking up the broken lacrosse stick and frowning down at it.

Hiro then snapped his attention to his friend and pointed in the direction the she-cat walked off in.

"You. . . did see that, right?" Hiro asked.

"Huh?" Hidemi frowned some more, looking at Hiro.

"That cat. . . she spoke. . . she bowed. . . and everything. . ." Hiro said with a dazed look as his finger still pointed down the street.

Hidemi studded Hiro for a few moments, with a somewhat concerned look on his face.

"Hiro. . . you sure you weren't hit?"

Hiro lowered his hand slowly and looked off in the direction the strange cat left in again.

'Did I just imagine it?'

* * *

Opening the front door to his house, a bit solemnly, Hiro halfheartedly called out to his dad.

"I'm home, dad. . ." he said as he closed the door behind him with a sigh.

'I guess it was only natural for Hidemi to think I was nuts. No matter how silly and cheeky he is, he isn't the type to believe that a cat can talk.' Hiro thought as he entered the living room.

"Watch it!" Nakazo exclaimed before Hiro could step foot in the room.

Hiro looked down on the floor where he was about to step and saw many scattered pieces of scrap fabric laying all over the floor and groaned before looking up at his father at the kitchen table.

Nakazo tapped his fingers on the wooden table in thought, staring down at a canvas that had many patterns of what looked like miniature quilts lying on it, with a bottle of red paint to the side, and frowned.

"Ugh, what a disaster, Hiro. No creative flow. . ." Nakazo's frown deepened, resting his head on his hand. "Make dinner tonight, would you? I refuse to leave this spot till I know what to do with all of this."

Hiro moved carefully to dodge all the fabric on the floor so he could reach his dad.

'Should I ask dad?' Hiro thought glancing at his father. 'It wouldn't hurt, I guess.'

"Hey dad?"

"Yep?"

"You think cats can talk?"

". . . "

Nakazo turned to glance at his son, for a second, before turning back to his canvas.

"Yeah, sure. . ." his dad said halfheartedly with a shrug.

Hiro's eye twitched in irritation, already knowing his dad was barely paying attention anyway. Hiro then moved away from behind his dad, and leaned on the dresser to his side and groaned.

A few moments of silence passed before his dad abruptly turned to Hiro, with a puzzled look on his face.

"Wait. . . what?" Nakazo said with a slightly gaping mouth.

A halfhearted grin grew on Hiro's face.

'Maybe he was listening after all.'

* * *

After Nakazo heard his son's question repeated. Nakazo only gave Hiro another answer that almost mirrored his previous answer, with an incredulous look and a nervous smile.

 _"Why not?"_

Hiro ended up just groaning again, and telling his dad he was no help, then headed to the kitchen to cook dinner, determined to forget everything that occurred today.

Once dinner was ready and Nakazo removed his work from the table. The two silently ate together, before Nakazo chuckled a bit, earning a confused glance from Hiro.

"You know. . . You've asked me something like that before when you were about six I think. . .?"

Hiro gave his dad is full attention.

"Huh? I did?"

Nakazo nodded with a smirk.

"Yep. If memory serves, you said something like 'Dad, do you think cats can talk? Because they can!' . . . something like that . . ." Nakazo said raising his chopsticks to eat some of his steamed rice.

'I said something like that?' Hiro thought. 'So I was basically a nut job back then, huh?'

Hiro paused to collect his thoughts. Thinking about any memory that could have possibly led to him say such a thing to his dad at that earlier date.

 _I was around six years old, walking down a neighborhood I can't recall so well. Munching on a box of crackers, contently, not a care in the world._

 _I think I was alone? I don't remember dad walking with me, so I think I was?_

Hiro scrunched his face up thinking harder, then lighting up.

'Yeah. . . I remember it. . .'

 _A dirty white kitten was following me, almost desperately._

 _It wasn't until I scarfed down two more crackers did I finally notice the cat behind me and turned to it._

 _"Hey? Why are you following me?" I asked the white kitten curiously, in a voice that only a young boy could have before puberty._

 _The cat meowed loudly in response._

 _"Oh, you're hungry?" my younger-self said._

Hiro frowned.

'I could understand cats back then? Really? Why can't I remember what the kitten said, then? All I can remember is his meows . . . wait. . . **him**? So the kitten was male?'

 _My six-year-old-self grinned at the dirty kitten and kneeled before him._

 _"Do you want some of my mice?" I asked the kitten._

 _The kitten tilted his head in confusion at me and meowed curiously._

 _"No! Not real mice! I'm a human, real mice are gross!" I said with a disgusted look. "These are crackers shaped as mice."_

 _I pulled a cracker out of the box to show the kitten, who licked his lips with his blue eyes glued to the cracker and meowed again._

 _"I know strange, huh? I like that. The more popular type of crackers are the ones shaped like fish, but these mice shaped ones aren't eaten a lot. I don't know why, though." I said obliviously._

 _"Even though they're strange. . . do you want one?" I asked the kitten._

 _The kitten eagerly meowed back._

 _"Here try one," I said placing the mouse shaped cracker in front of the kitten who eagerly chomped on it._

 _I pet the kitten, softly._

 _"You're pretty strange yourself. You're all dirty! Anyway, do you like it?"_

 _The kitten looked up at me and meowed gratefully._

 _"See? I'm not the only one!" I said with a grin. "My friends tease me a lot because they think they're too strange to eat, but who cares?"_

 _I dug my hand into the cracker box._

 _"Do you want more?"_

 _The kitten meowed._

 _"Okay. Here, have them." I said placing the whole box in front of the cat, as he immediately dipped his face inside to eat more of the crackers._

 _The white kitten then looked up at me and meowed again._

 _"Hehe, no problem. I can have my dad get me more anyway." I said._

Hiro's eyes widen, the memory becoming more clearer.

'Oh yeah. I wasn't alone. Dad was just walking a bit ahead of me.'

 _"Hiro!" that said my dad called out._

 _I stood up and turned to see my dad waiting for me down the street._

 _"Dad!" I called out to him and ran to his side, excitedly._

 _"What held you up, sport?" Nakazo asked ruffling my hair a bit._

 _I grinned at him._

 _"I was talking to the kitten. Turns out he likes the mice crackers too!"_

Nakazo looked across the table at his now teenaged son, with a fond smile.

"Humoring you, I asked you, what the kitten said to you. You said that the kitten told you that life was tough. Hmm, even a kitten has his facts straight, huh?" Nakazo grinned, placing a piece of mackerel in his mouth.

'I don't remember that. Hmm, guess I only remember little bits of what I talked about the cat.' Hiro thought placing his chopsticks down and rising from his seat, earning a puzzled look from his dad.

"Finished already?"

"Yeah. . . I'm not so hungry tonight. I'm more tired than anything." Hiro said grabbing his dishes to store away the leftovers in the refrigerator.

Nakazo sighed.

"You know, I wish you'd eat more. You're already a bit troublingly skinny as it is. Don't you want to be nice and strong so you can literally sweep the ladies off their feet, like that young lady you have a crush on, err. . . Machi right?" Nakazo grinned cheekily at his blushing son.

"N-No! I- I-!" Hiro stuttered then collected himself the best he could and glared at his dad.

"Goodnight dad." he said a bit bitterly, already walking into the hallway and up the stairs to his room.

Hiro heard his dad chuckle and reply back.

"Night, son."

Hiro groaned and sharply frowned realizing he probably groaned more today than he has his whole life, causing him to groan again with a scowl.

After finishing getting ready for bed, Hiro sat on his bed in his pajamas which consisted of a red and yellow checkered patterned t-shirt and plain gray shorts.

"So I guess. . . cats can actually talk?" Hiro spoke aloud as he stared up at the ceiling.

'But if that's the case, why am I the only one that seems to understand them? If people could talk to cats, wouldn't more people complain about cats talking or something? Maybe only a handful of people can understand them?' Hiro thought, his nose wrinkling. 'I guess that would explain why the world has cat ladies. . . but then again, I don't think even many cat ladies say that cats talk to them.'

Hiro sighed and crawled on his bed and reached the lamp to his side and turned off the light.

'Guess I'm just a freak of nature then. . .'

Hiro settled himself in bed, wearing a solemn smile.

'Just another thing to add to the list of why I'm so strange. . .'

With his last thought on his mind, Hiro closed his eyes and slowly drifted to sleep.

After what seemed like mere minutes, Hiro began to shiver and sneezed.

'What in the world? Why is it so darn cold? It almost felt like a breeze went by.' Hiro thought as he squeezed his eyes tighter and grabbed for his quilt for warmth, only to discover he couldn't find his quilt.

Hiro reluctantly opened his eyes with confusion, before his brown eyes widened.

"Wait. . . what?!"

Hiro found himself in front of his house, wearing only his pajamas, standing in the middle of the street.

Blinking his eyes in confusion, Hiro scanned his surroundings.

'A dream?' Hiro pondered, pinching himself and grimaced. 'Maybe not?'

"Meeeooooowwww. . ."

Hiro jumped at the sudden loud cry and turned to the neighbor's house where he saw two cats, a calico, and a black cat sitting on the stone wall staring off into the distance intently.

Hiro's nerves began to tingle.

'Jeez . . . Now I'm starting to get freaked out by these ordinary cats. I need to calm down. . .'

The two cats continued to stare down the street, which looked pitch black, almost as if a black hole was at the end of the street. Hiro's frown, disappeared, however, when orbs of light began to emerge from the area, bobbing and moving around in a strange way, while an unusual melody played in the air that started to build in volume.

The two cats on the stone wall got up abruptly.

"Merrrrooowww!" the black and calico cried, leaping from their spots on the wall and darted towards the wobbling balls of light, that were coming closer.

"Uuurghhhh. . . " a low half-hearted growl broke, startling Hiro, causing him to look behind him at the opposite side of the street.

A herd of, what Hiro guessed, was about nearly twenty cats ran past him and followed the two other cats, who were ahead, getting much closer to the bobbing lights.

Hiro rubbed his eyes to make sure what he was seeing, was actually happening.

'This dream just got ten times more weirder. . .'

Hiro squinted his eyes at the bobbing orbs that were getting even closer than before, and his eyes widened.

Out of the darkness, the bobbing orbs appeared to be a long line of small lanterns, but that wasn't what caught Hiro's attention. Holding the lanterns, were cats walking on their hind legs, while their front paws held the lanterns. Their walking was a bit wobbly and uneven. As Hiro got a closer look, there were other cats behind the ones holding the lanterns, an even larger group of cats that were walking on their back legs, simply walked behind these cats. There were also some cats playing instruments, that were interspersed in the long line. As the cats walked down the street, the neighboring houses' outdoor lights, turned on, the motion of the cats triggering them.

Hiro's frown returned.

'Okay. . . this has gone from ten times more weirder to ten times more creepier. . .'

The two cats from earlier along with the others following behind, ran on all fours, meowing loudly at the walking cats. They charged at the long queue of cats, but the ones that got close too close were stopped by tuxedo cats, roughly pushing them out of the way, some even being thrown into bushes or in someone's yard, much to the amusement of Hiro.

Taking his attention from what Hiro assumed were the bodyguard cats, Hiro noticed two larger cats pushing a rickshaw, which carried a casual type throne where a large cat was reclining in it. The cat sitting on the throne had long messy fur, that was identical in color to the cat he saved earlier but had a light patch of gray fur on the top of its head that fell its face a bit. It wore golden bands around its wrist with the design of a fish on them and wore a plain golden collar around its neck. It also wore a weird looking purple jewel on its head that looked a bit like an eye. The cat's eyes were closed as if it were sleeping. Meanwhile to the side of it, there were two other cats walking along side the long haired. One had gray fur and wore a long purple robe and spectacles. The other was a brown and tan furred cat, that had what seemed like two big pink spots on either side of its face, holding a rolled up scroll in its arms.

Hiro peaked behind the odd group to see yet more cats behind them also holding lanterns in their paws. The bodyguard cats were still fighting off the ordinary cats, making yelps and loud meows, filling the air.

Hiro looked around at the other houses waiting for the surrounding homes to turn on their inside lights and have people curiously looking out their windows to see what all the commotion was about. Only to see that no one did. There seemed to be no movement inside the houses. Hiro craned his neck to look at his own house, waiting for his dad to open the front door with an annoyed glare and throw a shoe or something at the loud cats, but not even his dad showed up.

'Is everyone in the neighborhood _**such**_ heavy sleepers?' Hiro thought.

But before Hiro could ponder more, all the cats' cries, the melody, and ruckus had suddenly halted.

Hiro looked down to see that the long haired cat and the two other cats had stopped in front of him, a black and gray striped cat had opened an umbrella and put it over the long haired. The purple robbed cat, fixing her spectacles, coughed and looked at Hiro suddenly, making Hiro freeze in place.

"Hello there." she said.

Hiro cringed.

'Uh no. . . Not more talking cats.'

"Please allow me to present to you the beautiful, wise, talented, I must repeat, beautiful ruler of The Cat Kingdom, The Cat Queen." the cat said in such a formal tone that it sounded like she was reading it from a script.

Hiro's eyes drifted from the purple robbed cat and back to the cat on the throne. She looked pretty old, looking at her aging fur, and her slow movements.

The long haired finally opened her eyes, and slowly let her eyes focus on Hiro. Hiro noted her mismatched eyes, one blue and the other almost a fuschia color.

"That's me, Sugga. . . " she said her voice slightly raspy with age.

Hiro stared at the cat strangely.

'Did she just call me, Sugar?'

"I'm the Cat Queen's royal adviser, Naori. We've come to tell you that you have bestowed on us and the whole Cat Kingdom a great blessing. The cat you have saved earlier today was no other than the Cat Queen's only child, Princess Luna." the purple robbed cat said, who's name was Naori.

Hiro's eyes widen.

'I knew that fur and eye color looked familiar. That cat I saved today is related to this cat?' Hiro thought staring at the Cat Queen.

"Given the great importance of the matter, the Cat Queen has come to thank you herself, to express her deep gratitude." Naori continued.

"O-Oh?" Hiro finally muttered staring at the Queen again.

The Queen was silent for a few awkward moments before she finally spoke.

"Yeah, thanks a lot, Sug.," she said almost too quickly and bluntly.

Hiro couldn't help himself, a few helpless chuckles erupted from him, that quickly turned into laughter, at the whole situation.

'This is all so nuts, but I'm not gonna lie, this theme beats most of my other dreams.'

Naori looked at the brownish, tan cat to her side.

"Natoru." she muttered to the cat.

The cat then suddenly stepped closer to Hiro, causing Hiro to stop laughing, and held up the paper scroll they had been holding, for Hiro to take.

"A scroll to tell you what to expect," Naori said simply, making Hiro crinkle his nose in confusion.

Hesitantly, Hiro took the scroll from Natoru's paws.

Natoru grinned up at Hiro.

"Once the sun rises, you will be showered with many great gifts and joys as a reward for you saving our Princess."

Hiro studied the rolled up scroll in his hands.

'Reward? I'm getting gifts? Ugh, don't take this too seriously, Hiro. This will all be something to laugh about once you wake up anyway.' Hiro scolded himself.

Figuring he had to say something because the cats were still staring at him expectantly, Hiro lightened his expression.

"Thank you?"

The Cat Queen, made a noise, in approval.

"Ciao, Sug."

Suddenly the cats all began to walk away, the cats holding their instruments began to play the strange melody again. The cats holding the lanterns moving suddenly caused the lanterns 'ting' in protest. The large parade of cats including Naori, Natoru, and The Cat Queen, all disappeared into the darkness at the end of the street.

Hiro stood there for a few moments, looking off into the area they all had disappeared, in wonder.

"It's hard to believe this is a dream. It seems so real. . ." Hiro said brushing his hand through his messy brown hair.

Clutching the paper scroll in his hands, Hiro walked into his yard sleepily and into his house to go back to bed. He was determined not to question anything about this, telling himself it was all just a dream, while a small part of his mind told him it was anything but, making him dread even more waking up in the morning.

* * *

A/N: Those of you questioning why I didn't "change" Natoru, it's because depending if you watched the original Japanese version or the English dubbed version of The Cat Returns, you sort of see that Natoru's gender is either unknown, placed to be a boy (English dub), or a girl (original Japanese version). So in this version, Natoru's gender will remain unknown. You can just make them out to be a girl or boy, your choice. xD

So opinions about it so far? Think it's fine as it is, or should I definitely change the story more to be almost completely different from one point on (possibly right after meeting the genderbended Cat Bureau) then just small changes? _**Opinions or ideas are welcome!**_ I'm just writing this thing for a gag, so I won't be bothered! After all, this is a parody. ;D


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Okay something different (since I usually would upload this and a Return of the Great Cat and Mouse chapter together) but the Return of the Great Cat and Mouse and one-shots I'm in the middle of are still being written and this chapter was already long since completed. So just in order to show I'm still writing and not dead, I decided to upload this earlier. . . Hope you'll enjoy. x'D

Chapter 2

The blue cow alarm clock rang, rousing the dark haired youth, his eyes almost completely bloodshot as he rose staring at his surroundings.

He sighed.

'See Hiro, it was just a dream.' he thought with a shake of his head and slapped his hands on the sides of his cheeks to wake up.

'Here, you were getting worried.'

Hiro nearly jumped when the phone next to him on his desk began to ring. With a confused frown, he answered it.

"Um, hello?"

 _"Hiro!"_

Hiro blinked, recognizing the voice on the other line.

"Hidemi? What are you calling about so early in the morning? You're not going to mock me again about not being a morning person, are you?"

 _"Nope, not today, but that aside. . . Hiro why did you get me all these lacrosse sticks?! Although I appreciate the thought of replacing my old one, you didn't have to get me over two hundred of them! They're blocking my family and me in the apartment! Dad's going to be late for the bus at this rate and_ _ **I'm**_ _going to get it! Hiro! I hope you know the trouble you caused me!"_

Hiro's frown deepened.

"Huh? What the heck are you-? I . . . didn't get you any lacrosse sticks. . ."

The other end was silent for a few long moments, before Hiro quickly needed to put the phone away from his ear, from the explosion on the other side.

 _"THEN WHO THE HELL IS THE WISE GUY WHO THOUGHT THIS WOULD BE FUNNY?! JUST YOU WAIT! I'M GOING TO FIND THIS MOTHER-!"_

Hiro quickly hung up the phone, a confused look written on his face.

'Weird. . . How would someone know about Hidemi needing a new lacrosse stick that quickly? Only he, probably his family, and I know about it.'

Hiro paused to think, before shrugging.

'Maybe one of his siblings pulled the prank? But at their own expense?' Hiro questioned, thinking of the family being trapped in their apartment.

A part of Hiro pondered calling back, to see if they needed help getting dug out, but this thought was interrupted when the doorbell rang.

'What a weird day, a visitor? Now? So early?'

Hiro quickly went to his dresser to put his school uniform on.

"Dad! I think someone's at the door!" Hiro called.

"Could you get it? I'm in the middle of taking a dump right now!" Hiro's dad called out.

Hiro groaned.

"Jeez dad, I didn't need to know that!" Hiro yelled back, throwing his clothes on while he left his room and swooped down the stairs to the front door, opening it.

Hiro suddenly sneezed and frowned as he saw none at the door, but then looked down and saw five large boxes.

'Oh, it was the delivery guy.' Hiro thought looking up to see if he could spot a van nearby, only for his eyes to widen, suddenly getting a good look at his front lawn.

The entire lawn was covered in tall perfectly planted cattails. It almost appear like long grass! Hiro then only noticed a large group of neighborhood cats playing in them, innocently.

"What in the world?" Hiro breathed out, but sneezed in the process.

"Cattails?"

Hiro looked behind him at his dad frowning at the front lawn.

"We never had cattails growing here. Couldn't have just grown overnight either." Nakazo said and then looked down at the packages below them. "Also the fact we didn't order anything lately. . ."

Rubbing his nose with a sniff, Hiro shrugged, eyes slightly weary.

"Maybe grandma sent us something?"

Nakazo nodded his head.

"Maybe. . . who else would?" Nakazo said as he and Hiro bent down and each took a box. They ripped the tops off and opened them, only for their eyes to broaden in horror.

Staring up at them were the glowing eyes of mice, staring innocently back at them.

"Mice!" Hiro and Nakazo jumped, making the two boxes fall on their sides allowing the mice to escape and swarm out into the lawn.

The cats that were once playing around with the cattails in their lawn, all turned abruptly at the mice running around, all began to pounce, chasing after the mice. The tranquility of the neighborhood was suddenly broken by the loud yowls of the cats chasing their prey.

Hiro and Nakazo watched with gaping mouths at the scene in front of them.

Nakazo slowly looked down at the other unopened boxes that some of the cats, that weren't occupied by the mice, started scratching at and stepped away from them with his hands up.

"Don't you dare touch those."

Hiro rolled his eyes and sneezed.

"You think I would?! I think I already know what's inside already from the smell they reek of. There's loads of catnip in them, but who would send us this junk?!"

Nakazo could only slowly shake his head in confusion, as the two of them watched the chaotic scene in front of them, one cat swallowing a whole mouse whole.

Hiro nearly gagged.

"That's it. I'm going to school, where hopefully things will make sense." Hiro said rushing to the living room to grab his school bag, which was mysteriously laying on the floor.

"Huh?! You're just going to leave me like this?!" Nakazo asked, raising his arms in exasperation.

"Yep." Hiro said simply picking up his bag. He rushed past his glaring dad and out the door, as he bobbed and weaved through the cats, mice, and cattails, then off the lawn and down the street. His dad calling out to him.

"Thanks for the help! Have a good day!"

* * *

Hiro walked into his classroom and towards his desk, his classmates chatting amongst each other waiting for the class to start.

He placed his bag on his desk and groaned as he sat down.

'Finally my nose is not running anymore. Those darn cattails of all things!'

Hiro let his head fall on his bag, as he looked out the window next to him.

'Jeez what is going on? Like yesterday wasn't bad enough! Does the universe have it out for me or something? Is it purposely trying to drive me absolutely insane?!'

Saving that cat yesterday and then that dream he had last night. All these events today seem linked.

Hiro jolted his head up at a sudden thought.

'Wait a minute. Those cats in my dream _did_ say something about me getting showered in gifts, right?'

Hiro shook his head slowly.

'But. . . it was just a dream. . .'

Hiro looked away from the window and towards the front of the class at the assignment that they were to work on when class would start and sighed. He reached into his bag for his composition book, but frowned when he felt something foreign in his bag.

Hiro slowly pulled the item out to see a familiar looking rolled up scroll in his hands. The paper, brown and worn looking, feeling almost leathery to the touch.

'This thing. . . isn't this. . . that scroll thing that one cat, Natoru, gave me in the dream?'

With a gulp, Hiro hesitantly unrolled the scroll to see a bunch of weird looking characters written on it.

'Uh no. . . It wasn't a dream after all. . .' Hiro inwardly groaned looking at the symbols on the paper. 'Those cats from last night are the ones who did all of this.'

'So that means if I didn't save that cat yesterday, none of this would be happening?' Hiro thought and suddenly looked at the last few characters on the paper.

Hiro's eyes widen when the first character looked to be a lacrosse stick.

'Wait. . . is that a lacrosse stick? Oh great. . . those cats must of been the ones to trap Hidemi and his family in. So I guess I _was_ responsible.' Hiro looked up with a cringe, to see if Hidemi had come to class yet.

Looking down at the paper again, Hiro noticed two particular plants drawn on it, along with a picture of a mouse. Hiro smacked his head with his palm.

'Well that explains the cattails, catnip, and mice. Should've know. . .'

Hiro then stared down puzzled at the last figure on the page of a cat wearing a crown.

'Oh great, what other gift is this supposed to be?' Hiro thought.

His thoughts were instantly interrupted though, when a sudden slam brought him back. He looked up to see Hidemi wearing a foul frown on his face, his bag having been slammed on his desk.

"H-Hey Hidemi. . ." Hiro spoke hesitantly.

Hidemi looked down at Hiro and abruptly growled out a hello.

'He's fuming.' Hiro stared, watching Hidemi sit on his seat and glare back at him.

"Guess who's dad was late for work today and guess who got blamed for it? That's right, me!" Hidemi said pounding a fist on his desk. 'Pops, wouldn't believe me when I said I had nothing to do with the lacrosse sticks. Wait until, I find the low life who decided to do this to me! Ugh! Barely even made it here in time. I practically had to swim in the lacrosse sticks to get out! What an awful day!"

Hiro smiled bitterly.

'You have no idea. . .' Hiro thought feeling unabashedly better. 'Misery likes company. . .'

Hidemi turned abruptly to Hiro.

"Are you sure you didn't do it?" Hidemi said glaring at him.

Hiro glared back.

"Yes, I'm _**sure**_!"

Hidemi growled and leaned back in his seat.

"I'm sorry, but I mean-! Who could've done it! You think anyone from my team saw us yesterday and knew about the broken lacrosse stick? I doubt it though. It would be weird for one of them to prank me suddenly like this, especially if they saw the situation of how it got busted in the first place and not even bothering to come over to see if you were alright. Nah, can't be them." Hidemi thought aloud, leaning back on his chair and then looked towards Hiro again with a glare.

"Either way this is all your fault in the first place! Saving that cat and getting the stick broken in the first place, thus leading to someone pranking me and getting me in trouble!"

Hiro glared back, but didn't bother to give a retort. Hidemi was just furious, which was a rarity for such a laid back person like him. His dad obvious gave him a hard time, because Hiro hasn't seen his best friend this upset in the longest time.

"You owe me one." Hidemi said then stared at him seriously and sighed. "Listen. . . Tsumugi has a big game today, but I got cleaning duty today and if I miss her game, I might just explode."

A tired smile appeared on Hidemi's face.

"Be a pal and take my place for me? You won't owe me anything after this." Hidemi said placing his hands in front of him with hopeful eyes. "I really need this! Only the sight of Tsumugi can brighten my soul today." he said dramatically, with a sigh.

Hiro resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He wasn't having a much better day! If anyone needed to have a ray of sunshine today, it had to be himself.

But despite himself, Hiro's eyes softened.

But then again, the reason why Hidemi was going through all of this was because of him. It _**was**_ his fault.

With a sigh, Hiro nodded.

"Sure, I'll take your place."

Hidemi grinned happily back and moved his arms in front of him and bowed like he was worshipping Hiro, causing the teenager to half-heartedly laugh.

"Oh geez, thanks! You just saved my day and my love life!"

Hiro laughed nervously, but quieted down as the rest of the class sat at their seats, as they saw the teacher walk in ready to start the class.

* * *

Lugging the tin trash bin in his arms, Hiro gazed down at the ground as he walked away from the school's garden.

'So, maybe the cat on the scroll was nothing?' Hiro thought with a frown. 'Because I have yet to see anything weird since this morning. From the way it looked, it almost looked like I was going to get a pet cat. . . not that I want one now after all of this.'

Hiro sighed.

'Well they delivered the stuff to the house, maybe my new cat is waiting for me at home.' Hiro's thoughts dripping in sarcasm.

Hiro nearly jumped when he heard a creaking noise. He turned his head toward the school's buildings. The sound came from the building on his right side, it's door opening to reveal a guy, a senior student, walking out with a playful smile on his face. Hiro's eyes widen when he noticed the guy wasn't alone. The door behind the senior opened again and a familiar looking girl with long brown hair jumped out and grabbed the guy around his arm, that ever present bright smile on her face.

"You're terrible, Shin! Leaving me behind like that!" Machi laughed following the senior as he walked to the other building.

"It's not my fault. You were just too slow." he said with a shrug.

Machi pouted her lips, something that Hiro always found adorable, and grabbed Shin's hand in hers.

"There! Now you'll be forced to follow my 'Machi' speed."

Shin faked a frown.

"Oh great, I'm trapped." he said his frown disappearing into a fond smile, while Machi smiled fondly back at him.

Hiro watched the couple, a sudden ache growing into his stomach, at seeing that smile Machi had given that guy.

'. . . That must be that upperclassman Hidemi was telling me about yesterday.' Hiro thought. 'Well. . . I guess. . . he _would_ be popular and making the girls go gaga looking like that. . . looking. . . perfect. . .'

Hiro smiled bitterly, as he continued to watch Machi and Shin walk hand in hand away.

'I bet the guy hasn't even had a bad day ever before in his life. I bet a guy like that has all the luck. . . He has Machi after all-'

Hiro yelped when he crashed into something, only just realizing he was still walking and landed hard on the ground. Hiro moaned and looked up in horror at the trash bin flying into the air and landing noisy next to him, making all the trash fall around him.

Hiro hesitantly looked up to see if the couple had noticed him, only to see them still walking on ahead.

Hiro didn't know whether to feel relieved or upset. He slowly got up and groaned at the mess surrounding him and started gathering everything into the bin again. Looking around to see if he got everything, he resisted the urge to cry out in frustration, at seeing a scrap of paper in one of the bushes. Reaching out he grabbed it, but paused.

'They didn't even notice me. I'm sure I was loud enough for them to at least glance back, but they were in their own little world.'

Hiro's eyes saddened a bit as he stared down at the paper. 'Must be nice.'

Throwing the paper into the bin, Hiro grabbed the trash bin with both hands and rushed into the school again. His mind continuing to block the image of Machi and the guy she loved smiling happily at one another.

* * *

"And yeah, thanks again for the help this morning, Hiro." Nakazo said sarcastically, frowning up at Hiro walking up the stairs, towards his room.

"Sorry, dad." Hiro simply said, startling his father at the melancholy tone that dripped from his sentence.

Before Nakazo could speak to assure his son that he wasn't taking it seriously, Hiro closed the door and trudged into his room, dropping his bag on the floor and falling into his bed.

'I should've been prepared. I know she already had a popular boyfriend, but actually seeing him with her. . .'

Hiro plopped his head into his pillow with a grunt.

"Ah at last, you're back! Sir, Hiro, Sir Hiro!"

Hiro immediately jolted, recognizing that voice, a trace of dread going through him as he looked towards his window, seeing a familiar looking brown, tan, and blush colored cheeks cat grinning back at him.

'Oh great. . . it's that one cat from last night. . .'

Hiro hesitantly opened the window, allowing Natoru to hop onto the bed.

"Please tell me you're not going to be my new pet cat?" Hiro asked with a groan.

Natoru tilted their head in confusion, but smiled at the teenage boy.

"Pet cat? Oh, no! Us Cat Kingdom folk don't stoop to put ourselves to such lows. No. I'm here to tell you of your next reward."

Hiro raised an eyebrow at them.

"Then if the last gift isn't a pet cat, what is it?"

Natoru grinned eagerly and looked as if they couldn't contain their excitement.

"Oh you're going to love it! It will outshine all the other gifts we gave you for sure!"

Hiro growled under his breath and abruptly grabbed Natoru by the scruff, causing the cat to yelp out.

"Gifts?! These gifts are as useless to me as giving me a literal white elephant!"

"Huh?!" Natoru exclaimed, their eyes widening. "B-B-But that can't be! The gifts were all chosen by a popularity poll by the whole kingdom! They are the most desired gifts!"

"Are you cats really that thick?" Hiro said letting Natoru go. "You blocked in my friend with all those lacrosse sticks, leading him to get into trouble. The mice and catnip only caused unnecessary trouble for me and I'm allergic to cattails."

Natoru's surprised expression turned glum.

"Oh I see. . . I guess we didn't think this one through enough." Natoru said with a wince on their face. "I don't know how I'm going to explain this to the Queen."

A wave of guilt passed Hiro.

"Um, sorry if I came off a bit rude. . . I'm also sorry too if this gets you in trouble, but those gifts did nothing for me and only one lacross stick would have been fine. . ."

Natoru nodded.

"Yes, it was pretty short sighted of us to think that a good looking boy like yourself would settle for mere cat trinkets." Natoru said with a frown.

Hiro abruptly turned to Natoru.

"Good looking?" Hiro blinked and then let out a small laugh. "Okay you can stop that now. Flattery will get you nowhere."

"There is no possible way to stop! The Cat Kingdom wants to make sure to please the savior of the Princess and this won't do at all!" Natoru said pacing the bed, but stopped and then brightened up, clapping their paws together. "Oh yes, I nearly forgot the whole reason I came."

Natoru straighten up and grinned at Hiro.

"Although our last gifts failed, there is no way you'll not enjoy the last one! Hiro, how would you like to see the Kingdom of Cats yourself in the flesh?"

Staring quickly at Natoru, Hiro's mouth hanged.

"Huh? Your kingdom?"

Natoru nodded eagerly.

"Mmm hmm!" they hummed. "You'll love it there, beautiful lands, delicious food, and the whole kingdom is eager to have you!"

Rolling his eyes, Hiro smirked down at the cat, humoring it.

"Really?" Hiro asked playfully. "So this is the last gift on the scroll then? A tour of your kingdom?

Natoru shook their head seriously.

"Yes and no, the main gift is even better. The Queen really likes you, you're worthy in her eyes so she's rewarding you the paw of her Princess Luna!"

"What? The paw? Don't you mean the hand. . . oh wait. . . besides that?! What exactly do you mean she's rewarding me her paw?" Hiro asked, fear gradually growing in him slowly.

Natoru's grin widen.

"Exactly what you think! You'll be Princess Luna's husband, the Queen's son in law, and the future King of the entire Cat Kingdom! Isn't that wonderful!"

"B-But she's that cat I saved, right? She's a cat, I can't marry a cat!"

Natoru waved a paw.

"Don't be hard on yourself, you are worthy and lucky! Princess Luna is always sought after by suitors, I can name a lot who will be incredibly jealous of you." Natoru said elbowing a dumbstruck Hiro. "After all, she's incredibly beautiful, smart, and enchanting! A treasure of the Kingdom."

Hiro's eyes sadden.

'Beautiful, smart, and enchanting, huh?'

The image of Machi came flooding into Hiro's thoughts, but as she appeared her boyfriend also did, holding her hand and walking away in the distance away from Hiro.

Hiro sighed and laid back into his bed.

"Actually. . . running away from this life would be kind of nice. . ."

Natoru brightened greatly.

"Ah! Perfect then!"

"Cats have it easier anyway." Hiro shrugged, closing his eyes. "Get to lie around like a bum and be lazy all day and have no one criticize you. . . that would be the life. . ."

Natoru nearly shook in excitement.

"Indeed we do!"

"Eating all you want, napping all you want, and letting go of all your stresses, sounds like heaven. . ." Hiro went on. "I'd probably would get along better with cats anyway. . ."

Hiro then laughed to himself.

"But it's a silly idea. Besides, with all of that I would also end up marrying some cat princess." Hiro laughed and and sat up in the bed. "Really silly. . . just a silly joke, right?"

Hiro opened his eyes to see that Natoru wasn't in front of him anymore and looked around the room in confusion.

"I'm so glad you'll love your last gift, Hiro!"

Hiro jumped and turned around to see Natoru now outside the window grinning happily.

"Don't worry, we'll all make sure to make up for the bad gifts once you marry our princess. I'll be sure to come get you soon!"

With that Natoru turned away and jumped down from the window and disappeared.

"Wait. . .WHAT?!" Hiro exclaimed, leaning his head out the window to see if he could catch the grinning cat before they left.

"Did. . . they think. . . I actually agreed to this?"

Hiro let the silence answer for him and all the color from his face drained.

"Oh no. . . This can't be happening. . ." Hiro said and jumped from his bed to pace the room. "M-Maybe once they come back I can tell them I don't want this and this will be just a misunderstanding to laugh about later. . . "

Hiro paced in silence, before falling to his hands and knees on the floor.

"Who am I kidding?! Those cats won't take no for an answer! The greatest gift for them is having me marry their princess! They won't believe me if I tell them I don't want to and then I'll have to marry a cat!"

Hiro pictured himself in a tuxedo standing in front of a cat priest in front of an altar, holding the small Cat Princess in front of him as he and she closed their eyes as he lifted her up closer for a kiss.

"NO WAY!" Hiro cried, shaking that image out of his head quickly.

 _"Hiro. . ."_

Hiro abruptly got up, fear rising in him at a sudden new voice speaking.

"Oh no. . . please don't tell me you're taking me now!" Hiro asked, looking desperately around for any sign of a cat.

 _"Hiro, you have to go to the Cat Bureau, you need their help."_

Blinking, Hiro calmed down a bit, glad there wasn't any cats around, but still remained concerned.

"T-The Cat Bureau? W-What's that?" Hiro sputtered in a shaky voice.

 _"Go to the Crossroads and find the large white cat, she will take you there."_

Hiro remained silent, waiting for something else to happen or be said, but nothing came.

"Okay then. . .?" Hiro said slowly backing into his bed. "I'm going absolutely bonkers. . ."

Falling back into the bed, Hiro considered his options.

'But at this point, listening to a voice in my head doesn't sound all that bad when you compare it to what I've gone through already. But what did the voice mean I needed this 'Cat Bureau's' help? Will they help me out of marrying the Cat Princess? Is this Cat Bureau even a thing?'

Hiro glanced towards his cow alarm clock.

'I have no idea when they'll come and get me, I might not have any time left to figure out something else to do. I really have nothing left to lose.'

Hiro stood up and headed towards his bedroom door.

'I guess I'm going to find this 'Cat Bureau'. . . '


End file.
